Small trellis design help.

[shwymie]

Hi Everyone,

I am in the process of designing a small single-wire trellis and I was hoping for some comments and advice. This is my first time growing grapes and building a trellis.

I am growing 3 varieties of muscadine and I have 6 plants of each organized into 3 rows of 6. Because of the space and how I planted the vines, my trellises (?) are going to go across each row such that each trellis will have 1 plant of each variety, and thus 3 plants per trellis and 6 trellises in all.

The questions I have pertain to the materials.

1. End posts: 8 ft by 4 in CCA treated posts (approx 3 feet in ground with cement and 5 feet above ground).

Will be put straight into ground with no bracing (I'm thinking that with only 3 vines, I don't need the additional post support).

2. Line post: two 8 ft studded metal T post (one in between each vine).

3. 9 ga high-tensile wire.

4. Wire will be terminated to end posts using "quick-ends"



Am I missing anything or do you have any suggestions to make the above easier to install, better, longer lasting, etc?

Any thoughts, advice or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Evan

 

[garymc]

I'm dubious about the lack of a brace and only having a 4 inch end post. I'd lean them away a few degrees and use a trailer anchor or earth anchor (corkscrew looking rod with an eye or loop on the top.) Actually, I have the same thing you're talking about on one of my trellises except my end posts are 6 or 8 inches diameter (I forgot which, but it was what they had at the farm supply store.) Leaning away with mobile home anchors and ratchet line tighteners in the line. Mine is long enough I thought I might need the ratchets for winter and summer expansion. How far apart will your plants be? In other words, brace post to brace post, how long is each trellis? I'd also recommend having the wires high enough you're not stooping to work on the vines or harvest, keeping in mind a lot of the grapes and shoots will be hanging below the wire. I put the T-posts alternating with the nubs facing left, right, left, right and just 3 or 4 inches out of line to the side the nubs are on so that the wire will be pulled against the nubs on the posts when it's tightened. I used the clips they give you with the posts to hold the wire in place. I have yet to have a heavy crop on them to see if the clips will do the job. The picture is another trellis, but this is the ratchet type tightener. I doubt you need it.

 

[shwymie]

Thanks for the reply Gary. Do you think that the braces would be necessary with only three vines on the line? The only reason I ask is I don't think I have any additional space to install them (my vineyard is in a fenced in area). As for the end posts, I'll definitely go bigger...it looks like my local tractor supply store has 8 ft by 6 in in stock.

My line will be 5 feet high.

As for spacing, everything is 10 feet apart; the posts will be 20 feet apart from one another and the vines are 20 feet from one another.

I would have the following (w/o braces):

End post
10 feet
1st vine
10 feet
T-post
10 feet
2nd vine
10 feet
T-Post
10 feet
3rd vine
10 feet
end post

 

[garymc]

Well, I put the vines right next to the line posts. The heaviest load of grapes are nearer to the trunk.
End post
10feet
1st vine on a line post
20 feet
2nd vine on a line post
20 feet
3rd vine on a line post
10 feet
end post
Here's a site with 30 chapters on muscadine production:
http://www.smallfruits.org/Muscadines/production/MuscadineGro/toc.htm

 

[shwymie]

Sounds good. Thanks again for the suggestions! [emoji108][emoji106]